AIR AMERICA RADIO INVESTIGATED AFTER BUSH 'GUNSHOTS'
Drudge Report
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The red-hot rhetoric over Social Security on liberal talkradio network AIR AMERICA has caught the attention of the Secret Service, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned. Government officials are reviewing a skit which aired on the network Monday evening — a skit featuring an apparent gunshot warning to the president!

Steve M.: The right-wing blogs are worked up about a bit on Air America that included what Drudge calls "an apparent gunshot warning to the president."
Avedon Carol: Randi Rhodes on the radio right now saying Drudge says she and Air America are being investigated by the Secret Service.
Roger L. Simon: UPDATE: The all-time record for preaching to the choir has been broken. [Should we alert Guinness?-ed. They already read Drudge.

Joe Gandelman: Air America's Randi Rhodes' Assassination Humor You have to wonder when radio talk show hosts on the left and right make...
Eugene Volokh: Jokes About Killing the President: Drudge reports (thanks to Gil Milbauer for the pointer): "Government officials are...
James Joyner: Air America Under Investigation for Bush Gunshot Skit — AIR AMERICA RADIO INVESTIGATED AFTER BUSH 'GUNSHOTS' (Drudge Report) [snipped quote] My word, this is asinine.

Avedon Carol: What I've been reading — Raw Story reports that the Republicans are re-writing Democratic amendments to make them look bad.
LeanLeft: Now they have taken to rewriting Democratic language in a Congressional committee report, inserting inflammatory words to make them look bad.
Steve Soto: House Judiciary Committee GOP Leadership Writing Fraudulent Bill Summaries To Discredit Democrats — It's come to this:...

Michael Froomkin: Meanwhile, Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY), the ranking Democrat on the House Rules Committee, issued a great statement about this new perversion of the House Rules.
Digby: It's in the US House of Representatives: "DEMS: a Nadler amendment allows an adult who could be prosecuted under the...
Cookie Jill: taking literary license with our democracy they are rewriting more than history... [snipped quote] there's more...and raw...

Up, Down or Out
By Bob Dole / NYT
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IN the coming weeks, we may witness a vote in the United States Senate that will define the 109th Congress for the ages. This vote will not be about war and peace, the economy or the threat from terrorism.

John Cole: The Right Response — It seems to me that Bob Dole is taking exactly the right tone regarding the so-called nuclear option: "I have publicly urged caution in this matter.
McQ: Now Bob Dole puts his more recent version of that history out there for our consideration: "But let's be honest: By...
James Joyner: Dole's piece is entitled, "Up, Down or Out" (NYT | RSS) "By creating a new threshold for the confirmation of judicial...

Shawn @LiquidList: In today's New York Times Bob Dole tells us how obtuse and historically unreasonable the filibustering Democrats are on the matter of federal judges.
Betsy Newmark: Bob Dole explains why Frist has the power to ask for a rule change to end the filibuster of Bush's judicial nominees and...
Joe Gandelman: UPDATE II: Senator Bob Dole has been quoted before urging the GOP to think carefully before doing the "nuclear option,"...

Losing Ground in Iraq
NYT
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The millions of brave Iraqis who risked their lives to vote in January didn't expect that nearly three months later, their squabbling politicians would still be struggling to form a government. As a result, precious momentum has been lost, and a briefly improving security situation has again started deteriorating.

Tom Maguire: How Soon They Forget — Glenn smacks the Times in a (probably futile) attempt to jog their memory, describing their...
Roger L. Simon: The kind of sleazy self-justification being engaged in here by Friedman is of a piece with the outright lie in the...
Glenn Reynolds: MORE VIOLENCE IN TOGO. posted at 09:05 AM by Glenn Reynolds Permalink NOW THIS IS JUST OUT-AND-OUT DISHONESTY AT THE...

John Hawkins: Quotes Of The Day: The Inaccuracy Of The New York Times — "The only plausible reason for keeping American troops in...
John Cole: However, as Glenn notes, this sort of nonsense is not conspiracy theorizing, it is flat-out lying: "The only plausible...

Avedon Carol: You know, I've been thinking all day about the bizarre fact that Bush took DeLay out with him on his Social Security...
Mark Kleiman: Friends — Two pictures I hope to see a lot more of between now and 2008: bushdelay.jpg bushabdullah.jpg Remember Rule #1: Lie down with dogs, get up with fleas.

Laura Rozen: It's hard to be persuaded that these guys are so exercised about corruption — at the UN or anywhere else.
Josh Marshall: DeLay runs for W as Hastert opts to remove custom-built ethics heat-shield from House!

A Media Tipping Point?
By Glenn Harlan Reynolds / TCS
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Over three years ago, I wrote: Big journalism is in trouble, and big journalists don't like it. . . . Annoyance to journalists is the least of this, because what is really going on is something much more profound: it's the end of the power of Big Media.

Jay Rosen: The instant literature on what Jeff Jarvis has been calling the tipping point continues to grow.
Bill @INDCJournal: UPDATE: More from Reynolds.

Ed Driscoll: Update: Glenn Reynolds' latest Tech Central Station column has some interesting and related thoughts on this topic. Close It
Glenn Reynolds: A MEDIA TIPPING POINT? My TechCentralStation column is up.

The Best Man for the U.N.
By Thomas L. Friedman / NYT
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My biggest problem with nominating John Bolton as U.N. ambassador boils down to one simple fact: he's not the best person for the job - not even close. If President George W. Bush wants a die-hard Republican at the U.N., one who has a conservative pedigree he...

Steve Clemons: There will be more stories tomorrow on Bolton...and in case you missed them, here are two pieces on Bolton that ran on...
Matthew Yglesias: The usually-absurd Tom Friedman manages to wrap today's column in the absurd suggestion that George H.W. Bush shoudl be U.N. Ambassador.
Orrin Judd: EVEN ATHEISTS DON'T HATE THEIR FATHERS THAT MUCH: The Best Man for the U.N.

Roger L. Simon: But I couldn't let this column by Tom Friedman go by without some comment - and not about his silly proposal of George H. W. Bush for UN Ambassador.
Stirling Newberry: Some jokes just write themselves
K. J. Lopez: DIDYA EVER THINK? NYTimes columnist makes the case for W to nominate his dad...to the Bolton spot.

But Did He Inhale?
By Karen Tumulty / Time
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Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. And sometimes, according to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a cigar is an economic prop to a brutal totalitarian regime. Arguing against loosening sanctions against Cuba last year, DeLay warned that Fidel Castro "will take the money.

Avedon Carol: MaxSpeak: BE IT RESOLVED, WE SHOULD EAT THE RICH. Also, democracy okay in South America. Phony bastard.
Judd @ThinkProgress: Karen Tumulty reports: "[S]ome sharp-eyed TIME readers were surprised last week to see a photo of the Majority Leader...

Atrios: From Time: Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. And sometimes, according to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a cigar is an economic prop to a brutal totalitarian regime.

GOP to Reverse Ethics Rule Blocking New DeLay Probe
By Mike Allen / WaPo
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House Republican leaders, acknowledging that ethics disputes are taking a heavy toll on the party's image, decided yesterday to rescind a controversial rule change that led to the three-month shutdown of the ethics committee, according to officials who participated in the talks.

Sam Rosenfeld: Earlier today The Stakeholder aptly cautioned against jumping to any conclusions, short of explicit details, about the...
Mary @LeftCoaster: So today, the House Republicans are reversing the change that would keep the committee from opening an investigation if...
Judd @ThinkProgress: Dennis Hastert Explains it All — In case you had any questions about why the House leadership is considering restoring...

James Joyner: Republicans to Reverse Ethics Rules Changes: Hastert — G.O.P. Will Relent on Ethics Rules, House Speaker Says (NYT |...
Kos @DailyKos: Another GOP cave — Man, those guys on the other side of aisle sure have been reeling lately.
Pudentilla: shortening the plank that tom delay will walk — [snipped quote] denny hastert doesn't want to help him any more. too bad for tom.

U.S. Figures Show Sharp Global Rise In Terrorism
By Susan B. Glasser / WaPo
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The number of serious international terrorist incidents more than tripled last year, according to U.S. government figures, a sharp upswing in deadly attacks that the State Department has decided not to make public in its annual report on terrorism due to Congress this week.

Arthur Chrenkoff: "The WaPo" rewrites history — First, it was "The New York Times" rewriting history, now "The Washington Post"'s Susan...
Larry Johnson: STATE DEPARTMENT INTENT ON STONEWALLING ON TERRORISM (UPDATE 4/27) by Larry C. Johnson (UPDATE: April 27 Washington Post cites Larry's scoop.)
Pudentilla: it's official - we're losing the war on terror — [snipped quote] and therefore - it's secret. we suppose that some reds...

Brooke @ThinkProgress: Another Broken Record — Another record was broken this year - the number of serious international terrorist attacks in...
Matthew Yglesias: Via Laura Rozen I see that in response to data indicating a steep rise in the number of terrorist attacks around the...
Kos @DailyKos: Terrorism incidents tripled last year — No wonder Bush killed the State Department's terrorism report.

Jim Henley: Sigh — Couldn't the President have preempted coverage of tonight's lamentable Wizards-Bulls game instead of whatever he's cutting into tomorrow?

Atrios: Fans of Will & Grace will be forced to WATCH ME! For I am the PREZNIT! YOU MUST LISTEN!

Next: The Google Street Journal
LAT
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Even when newspapers go belly up, their kind of content will live on. Working at a major metropolitan newspaper these days can feel a bit like working for the East German Politburo, circa 1988. Newspapers, you may have read, though most likely not in a newspaper, are on the way out.

Jay Rosen: "Working at a major metropolitan newspaper these days can feel a bit like working for the East German Politburo, circa...
Jan Haugland: Quote of the day — Andrés Martinez in the LA Times: Working at a major metropolitan newspaper these days can...
Jim Romenesko: Will we soon get biz news from the Google Street Journal?

Kevin Roderick: Critical mass — In today's Times, editorial page editor Andrés Martinez writes that "working at a major...
Steve Bainbridge: A Provocative Business Plan — From the LA Times of all places, comes an interesting business model: "Take those Internet portals.

Joe Gandelman: If They Didn't Agree With The President They Couldn't Hear Him Speak — A political scandal continues to unfold in...
Kos @DailyKos: More White House propaganda; Denver 3 — So, the man who impersonated a Secret Service agent and kicked out three...

Skippy: ann imse of the rocky mountain news identifies one of the people involved, and surprise, it was the chairman of the...

Stenberg poised to announce Senate bid
By Don Walton / Lincoln Journal Star
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Former Attorney General Don Stenberg appeared poised Wednesday to jump into the 2006 Republican Senate race and seek a rematch with Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson. Stenberg, who served as attorney general for 12 years, will hold a news conference today at Republican state headquarters to make "an important announcement about his future political plans."

First Lady Says No Plans to Seek Office
By Jeremiah Marquez / AP
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BURBANK, Calif. - Despite her popularity, first lady Laura Bush says she's not interested in running for higher office. Bush made the declaration Tuesday, telling "Tonight Show" host Jay Leno that she has no aspirations for holding office and doesn't even pay much attention to her approval ratings — though she tracks her husband's.

Avedon Carol: You know, I read the headline First Lady Says No Plans to Seek Office and I just assumed it was about Hillary.
SK Bubba: Bombshell: Laura Bush won't seek office — Says she's not interested. Developing...

Steve Soto: It's amazing that the AP would actually make a story out of Laura Bush's statement last night on Leno that she isn't a...

G.O.P. Will Relent on Ethics Rules, House Speaker Says
By Carl Hulse / NYT
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WASHINGTON, April 27 - Saying that an ethics impasse needed to be resolved to provide a chance for Representative Tom DeLay to clear his name, Speaker J. Dennis Hastert said this morning that Republicans were ready to relent on rules changes that have left the ethics committee unable to do any work.

Riggsveda @Corrente: In an update to this morning's story, the NYTimes reports Hastert is ready to take 3 steps back: [quote] "Saying that an...[end quote]

TChris: House Ethics Committee Will Change Rules — By insisting that Republicans play by a fair set of rules, House Democrats apparently achieved a victory today.

Steve Soto: Nor has anyone at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue apparently talked to industry yet about some of these ideas.

Ezra Klein: New Plan, Same as the Old Plan — So the new Bush energy plan (not, to be clear, the atrocious energy bill).

Podcasting Killed the Radio Star
By Xeni Jardin / Wired News
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Podcasting will soon break out of the "pod" and onto the public airwaves. The world's first all-podcast radio station will be launched on May 16 by Infinity Broadcasting, the radio division of Viacom. Infinity plans to convert San Francisco's 1550 KYCY, an AM station, to listener-submitted content.

Jay Rosen: Now this is a poetic argument. Wired News account by Xeni Jardin: Podcasting Killed the Radio Star.

More evidence of Saudi doubletalk?
MSNBC
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WASHINGTON - Sheik Saleh Al Luhaidan, seen in video seated to the right of the crown prince, is chief justice of Saudi Arabia's Supreme Judicial Council. His sermons and words carry great significance.

Dan Darling: And people wonder why I tend to take Saudi claims that they're against terrorism with a grain of salt — I mean, how...

SK Bubba: He was on the Homeland Security "no-fly" terrorist screening list. (But I'm sure it had nothing to do with this.)

Jeffrey Dubner: I don't know anything about the actual merits of Small v. United States, but it's pretty clear that Clarence Thomas...
Jeralyn Merritt: Supreme Court Limits Reach of Gun Law — The Supreme Court issued a decision this week limiting the reach of the felon...

Tom Maguire: Small v. United States — The NY Times fascinates us with their description of Tuesday's Supreme Court ruling on a...
Glenn Reynolds: THE SUPREME COURT'S ENTHUSIASM FOR FOREIGN LAW seems to have its limits: [snipped quote] That's true, and I'm delighted...

New Iraqi Premier Says Impasse Over Cabinet Is Broken
By Robert F. Worth / NYT
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BAGHDAD, Iraq, April 27 - Iraq's new prime minister said today that he had submitted a full list of cabinet members, opening the way for a new coalition government to assume power and end a crippling three-month political stalemate that has appeared to be fueling renewed violence here.

Barbara O'Brien: The last benchmark, the Iraqi election, was probably good for the purple ink business, but Iraq has yet to form a government (although they may be getting close).

John Cole: Any way you slice it (unless you are Juan Cole), the world is a better place for the sacrifice in blood in treasure that we have made.

Syrian Intelligence Still in Lebanon
By Robin Wright / WaPo
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Syria has not withdrawn a significant part of its intelligence presence in Lebanon, undermining its claim yesterday to have ended its 29-year intervention in its western neighbor, U.S. , European and U.N. officials said.

Jan Haugland: Syrian intelligence agents still in Lebanon — It was obviously too good to be true: Syria has not withdrawn a...
Pejman Yousefzadeh: Evidently, Syrian intelligence remains in Lebanon. Which means that pressure on Syria to get out should remain on a white hot level.

Damian Penny: I shoulda known — Syria may have withdrawn its soldiers from Lebanon, but its intelligence agents are still spread throughout the country.
K. J. Lopez: SYRIA LIES Washington Post: "Syria has not withdrawn a significant part of its intelligence presence in Lebanon,...

Michael Froomkin: People Unclear on the Concept — A law firm's sexual harassment case: An inside story Holland & Knight's Tampa office was, it seems, a hostile environment for women.

Fontana Labs: Via begging to differ, this depiction of sexual harassment at a law firm is both appalling and hilarious.

STASH 'BAGGED' AT MARKET
New York Post
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Firefighters found more than 200 vehicle airbags believed to be stolen in the back room of a Brooklyn supermarket, where newspaper clippings about Osama bin Laden and beheadings in Iraq covered the walls, authorities said.

2 want to find GOP mystery man
By Jim Spencer / Denver Post
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Max and Susan Tyler haven't heard from the Secret Service. The Secret Service is reportedly investigating whether a Republican staff member illegally impersonated a federal agent when he removed Alex Young, Leslie Weise and Karen Bauer before President Bush's March 21 Social Security forum in Denver.

Skippy: jim spenser at the denver post says two other people were hassled, but not ejected, by the same "mystery man" at the...

Kos @DailyKos: Meanwhile, the White House is pretending they have no idea who might be running around Bush events with earpieces.

The Note: "As Strongly As He Ever Has"
ABCNEWS
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The Republican White House is standing firm in support of DeLay, Bolton, private accounts, nuclear power, a lean budget, and the constitutional option on judges. The Senate Republican leadership is standing firm in support of Bolton, private accounts, nuclear power, a lean budget, and the constitutional option on judges.

Barbara O'Brien: According to The Note, "The Republican White House is standing firm in support of DeLay, Bolton, private accounts,...

Josh Marshall: ABC's The Note reports for duty on the nuclear constitutional option: "NEWS SUMMARY: The Republican White House is...

Bush moved to bunker after false security alarm
AP
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WASHINGTON (AP) — President Bush was rushed from the Oval Office to an underground shelter and Vice President Dick Cheney was taken to a secure location Wednesday on fears that an unidentified aircraft had entered restricted space near the White House.

Joe Gandelman: Details from AP: "President Bush was rushed from the Oval Office to an underground shelter and Vice President Dick...

Bloomy zooms by Ferrer in new poll
By Maggie Haberman / NY Daily News
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Mayor Bloomberg's reelection prospects are zooming while support for his top Democratic rival, Fernando Ferrer, has tanked in the wake of his controversial remarks about the Amadou Diallo shooting, a new poll shows.

Mark Schmitt: That's the subject of my latest column in The American Prospect online.

Orin Kerr: Lewis F. Powell and the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy: Over at the American Prospect, Mark Schmitt pokes holes in a...

Sen. Strangelove
By Pete Du Pont / Opinion Journal
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Sen. Barbara Boxer is a longtime opponent of judicial nomination filibusters. Or she was. Suddenly the light has dawned, and she realizes how wrong she was to oppose them: "I thought I knew everything. I didn't get it. . . . I am here to say I was totally wrong."

Dale Franks: Divider Moreover, while the filibuster is going on, Republicans, assuming they can get anyone scheduled to speak, can...

Dr. Steven Taylor: More History — Pete Du Pont notes in in todays' WSJ: "When the Senate first established its rules in 1789, there was no such thing as a filibuster.

Airbus A380 completes test flight
BBC
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The world's largest passenger plane, the Airbus A380, has safely landed, having completed its maiden flight. The long-awaited test flight lasted about four hours, touring the Bay of Biscay, before returning to base.

Jim Romenesko: More from NY Observer: > WP, NYT and WSJ will survive, but others will become coupon sheets > What does it mean that Olson — not Abrams — now represents Cooper?

CIA can't rule out WMD move to Syria
By Rowan Scarborough / Washington Times
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The CIA's chief weapons inspector said he cannot rule out the possibility that Iraqi weapons of mass destruction were secretly shipped to Syria before the March 2003 invasion, citing "sufficiently credible" evidence that WMDs may have been moved there.

Cliff May: The New York Times April 26, 2005 CIA can't rule out WMD move to Syria "The CIA's chief weapons inspector said he...
K. J. Lopez: WMDS IN SYRIA? The CIA can't rule out that's where Saddam's weapons went.

Betsy Newmark: And, in another story, Charles Duelfer says that his report on the lack of WMD in Iraq doesn't rule out the possibility that WMD were moved to Syria.

Opting for Truth Over 'Triumph'
By Anne Applebaum / WaPo
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Try, if you can, to picture the scene. A vast crowd in Red Square: Lenin's tomb and Stalin's memorial in the background. Soldiers march in goose step behind rolling tanks, and the air echoes with martial music, occasionally drowned out by the whine of fighter jets.

Laura Bush: No plans to seek office
AP
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BURBANK, Calif. - Despite her popularity, first lady Laura Bush says she's not interested in running for higher office. Bush made the declaration Tuesday, telling "Tonight Show" host Jay Leno that she has no aspirations for holding office and doesn't even pay much attention to her approval ratings — though she tracks her husband's.

Steve Soto: But compare the slavish ass-kissing coverage given to this non-news story by the AP and other media outlets with the...

Taegan Goddard: First Lady Has No Plans to Run — Despite the popularity she has enjoyed as first lady, Laura Bush told Jay Leno last night that she has no plans to seek office, the AP reports.

Sifting Clues to an Unsmiling Girl
By Maggie Farley / LAT
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TORONTO — She is perhaps 12 now, her hair still light blond, but she doesn't smile anymore. Over the last three years, she has appeared in 200 explicit photos that have become highly coveted collectibles for pedophiles trolling the Internet.

K. J. Lopez: "SOUL-DESTROYING" WORK — This is another engrossing article in the news today: From the LA Times, on tracking down child abusers.

Bigwig: Teach them well. Teach them to cross to the other side of the treet when they see a Trekkie coming.

GOP Pushes Bolton Floor Vote
WaPo
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President Bush and Senate Republicans are intensifying their push to confirm John R. Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations and are considering forcing a showdown vote on the Senate floor if the Foreign Relations Committee refuses to endorse the controversial nominee, according to White House and Senate aides.

Laura Rozen: The Washington Post's Jim VandeHei and Charles Babington report that the White House and GOP leaders are maneuvering to...

Rich Lowry: GET TO A FLOOR VOTE — That's the White House strategy on Bolton, according to the Washington Post.

Our Role in The Church
By Pia De Solenni / WaPo
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Before I went to Rome to do my doctoral work in theology in the mid-1990s, I was inclined to believe, like many American women, that the Catholic Church's teaching on women was a bit skewed, if not flawed. At times, it seemed to me that there was no unique place for women in the church.

Verity @SouthernAppeal: This article, Hat Tip, the Corner, provides a wonderful insight into women's role in the Church.

US admits Iraq insurgency undiminished
ABC News
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The Iraqi insurgency is just as strong now as it was one year ago, the most senior US military officer, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Richard Myers has admitted. Gen Myers also insists the US and coalition forces are winning the war and is confident of military victory.

Giblets: Right Where We Want Them — So it turns out the Iraqi insurgency is as strong now as it was last year - which means we're kicking its ass.

Bush to Propose Oil Refineries at Ex-Military Bases
By Steve Holland / Reuters
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Under pressure over high energy prices, President Bush on Wednesday will propose tackling the root causes of the problem by encouraging new oil refineries be built at closed military bases and jumpstarting construction of new nuclear power plants.

James Wolcott: Instead, true to form, dedicated to the destruction of a livable environment for future generations, Bush is trying to...

Jeff Quinton: Reuters "Under pressure over high energy prices, President Bush on Wednesday will propose tackling the root causes of...

Pentagon Plays Down New Rise in Iraq Violence
By Bradley Graham / WaPo
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Top Pentagon officials yesterday acknowledged a recent jump in insurgent violence in Iraq but described the escalation as nowhere near the peak levels of the past year and disputed suggestions that it represents a lack of progress.

Barbara O'Brien: Bradley Graham writes in WaPo: "Top Pentagon officials yesterday acknowledged a recent jump in insurgent violence in...
Juan Cole: I found the admission by Gen. Richard Myers on Tuesday that the number of attacks in Iraq was about 50 to 60, and was about the same as in April of 2004.

James Joyner: Pentagon Plays Down New Rise in Iraq Violence (WaPo p.
Laura Rozen: Wednesday Update: The same tactics are being resorted to by Rumsfeld's Pentagon as Iraq violence spikes. Again.

Myers: Insurgency same as year ago
CNN
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WASHINGTON (CNN) — The insurgency in Iraq is "about where it was a year ago," in terms of attacks, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said but he said American and Iraqi troops are gaining ground in the two-year-old conflict.

Barbara O'Brien: Hello Mullah, Hello Fatwa — CNN reports: [quote] The insurgency in Iraq is "about where it was a year ago," in terms of...[end quote]

James Joyner: Myers: Insurgency same as year ago (CNN) [quote] The insurgency in Iraq is "about where it was a year ago," in terms of...[end quote]

Martin buys NDP support
Globe and Mail
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Jack Layton and Paul Martin inked a $4.6-billion deal aimed at salvaging the federal budget yesterday, a move that will force the Conservatives to rely on the separatist Bloc Quebecois if the party wishes to bring down the government in the coming weeks.

Captain Ed: Layton Begins Rationalizations — After having enabled a possible lifeline to the embattled Prime Minister and a Liberal...

Cori Dauber: Meanwhile, it looks as if (for now) Paul Martin has saved his government.

Battle on Bolton Nomination Could Wound the President, Too
By Elisabeth Bumiller / NYT
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WASHINGTON, April 26 - The White House is intensifying its campaign to rescue the nomination of John R. Bolton to be ambassador to the United Nations, administration officials said on Tuesday, as Republicans close to the West Wing acknowledged that a rejection of Mr. Bolton would be politically damaging for President Bush.

Steve Clemons: The White House is trying to demonstrate that it has a majority of Republicans who will vote to confirm Bolton on the floor.

Joe Gandelman: Bolton Confirmation Framed As Partisan Must Win For Bush — If you strip all the niceties away from a recent New York...

GOP May Be Splintering on Social Security
WaPo
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A badly divided Senate Finance Committee yesterday held the first hearing examining President Bush's efforts to restructure Social Security. While the Democrats remained united in their opposition, there were signs of cracks in the Republicans' support for the president.

Brad DeLong: Take a look at the leading paragraphs: GOP May Be Splintering on Social Security: A badly divided Senate Finance...
Taegan Goddard: GOP Splintering on Social Security — "While Democrats remained united in their opposition to President Bush's efforts...

Steve Soto: From Wednesday's New York Times Both the Post and the Times are reporting in Wednesday's edition that despite Chuck...
Pudentilla: senator snowe has not drunk the kool-aid — [snipped quote] she's pudentilla's senator and she hates deficits. admittedly...

House Republicans Weigh Vote on Ethics Changes
By Carl Hulse / NYT
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Permalink
WASHINGTON, April 26 - House Republican leaders on Tuesday moved toward reversing rules changes that have paralyzed the ethics committee, a decision that could clear the way to an investigation of the overseas travel of Representative Tom DeLay, the majority leader, and other House members.

Riggsveda @Corrente: But then a funny thing happened as the undertaker prepped the body politic: [quote] "House Republican leaders on Tuesday moved...[end quote]

Taegan Goddard: Meanwhile, the New York Times notes that House Republican leaders "moved toward reversing rules changes that have...

Donations link DeLay, ethics panel
By Jim Drinkard / USA Today
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Permalink
WASHINGTON — All five Republicans on the House ethics committee have financial links to Tom DeLay that could raise conflict-of-interest issues should the panel investigate the GOP majority leader.

Joe Gandelman: Bush has also now added DeLay to his Social Security USA Today now reports that all five Republicans on the House ethics committee have financial links to Delay.

Taegan Goddard: DeLay's Ethics Panel — "All five Republicans on the House ethics committee have financial links to Tom DeLay that could...

Brad DeLong: You waste your time, and it annoys the pig: Remedial economics for the WSJ editorial board ... [Media Matters for...
Atrios: Anyway, I take a swipe at Media Matters and Drum has a very good complementary piece.

Crippled by Their Culture
By Thomas Sowell / Opinion Journal
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For most of the history of this country, differences between the black and the white population—whether in income, IQ, crime rates, or whatever—have been attributed to either race or racism.

Dean Esmay: It's also, I'm happy to say, starting to lose its sting, because the notion of America as a terribly racist country grows less and less credible all the time.
Joanne Jacobs: In the Wall Street Journal, Sowell writes: [snipped quote] The "counterproductive and self-destructive culture" of ghettos isn't authentic black culture, Sowell argues.
Baldilocks: Black Like Me — Thomas Sowell explores an old subject with a new perspective.

Committee Prepares Questions for Bolton
By Lolita Baldor / AP
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WASHINGTON — Members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee prepared a list of about 20 questions Tuesday for John R. Bolton, including requests for e-mails and telephone logs relating to confrontations he has had with intelligence analysts, according to Senate staff.

Ken Masugi: Bolton: The Bureaucracy Did It — The Bolton confirmation travesty is the classic example of the bureaucracy out to...
Laura Rozen: Gov. Bill Richardson is wondering if Bolton snooped on his negotiations with the North Koreans, the AP reports (towards end of article).

Steve Clemons: It has not reviewed all of the evidence on Bolton which is now widening in scope.

Orin Kerr: As this interesting New York Times article suggests, however, such databases can also help the police crack very...

The Not-So-Great Divorce
NRO
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Permalink
Multiculturalism and liberalism look toward splitting up. What follows is an expanded version of my article Friday in the Evening Standard — again with thanks to the editor — on the debate on multiculturalism which in the U.K. is still very much in its infancy.

Ed Driscoll: Update: While Mark Steyn traverses the failures of multiculturalism, John O'Sullivan writes that multiculturalism and England's left may be heading towards a schism.

Senate Panel Is Widening Its Review on Nominee to U.N.
By Douglas Jehl / NYT
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Permalink
WASHINGTON, April 26 - In a widening of the inquiry into John R. Bolton's nomination to be ambassador to the United Nations, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee intends to conduct formal interviews in the next 10 days with as many as two dozen people, Congressional officials said Tuesday.

Pejman Yousefzadeh: TEDIUM — Apparently, the plan is to subject John Bolton to death by a thousand cuts.

Bush Threatens Veto on Highway Bill
By Jim Abrams / AP
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WASHINGTON - The Bush administration issued a veto threat again Tuesday against a popular highway bill, saying the president would be likely to reject any legislation that exceeds a White House-set spending ceiling or adds to the deficit.

Digby: How Ever Will They Resolve This? Can you believe this kabuki bulls**t? [snipped quote] Man, that codpiece is tight.

Betsy Newmark: I hope that Bush does follow through and veto the highway bill. It's about time he put his foot down on some of the spending tha thte Hill has passed.

Max B. Sawicky: BE IT RESOLVED, WE SHOULD EAT THE RICH My latest Wall Street Journal Econoblog debate with Tyler Cowen, who knows all about eating rich, on the Estate and Gift Tax.

Frist Says He's Not Interested in Deals
By Jesse J. Holland / AP
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WASHINGTON (AP) - Reacting to a Democratic offer in the fight over filibusters, Republican leader Bill Frist said Tuesday he isn't interested in any deal that fails to ensure that the Senate votes on confirmation for all of President Bush's judicial nominees.

Jon @ThinkProgress: [WP] 12/21/02: Frist becomes frontrunner, praised as "compassionate" party savior: "Frist fits neatly into the...
Pudentilla: wild about harry "republicans refuse offer on judges - democratic plan sought withdrawal of some - senate republicans...
Pejman Yousefzadeh: But as long as I read these kinds of stories, I don't much care: [snipped quote] I have no doubt that eventually, some kind of deal will be made.

Revolt of the Middle
By E. J. Dionne Jr. / WaPo
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If you were to prepare a list of the top 10 stories you will never, ever read in a newspaper, one of them would surely include a sentence beginning: "Thousands of angry, screaming moderates took to the streets yesterday demanding . . ."

Barbara O'Brien: Yesterday Paul at PowerLine responded to an E.J. Dionne column in which Dionne says moderate voters are turning away from Bush.
John Hawkins: Liberal E. J. Dionne Jr. has noticed the drop in Bush's approval ratings and is optimistically predicting a "Revolt of...
Todd Pearson: E.J. Dionne says that moderates are in revolt. - Ron Brownstein says that there may be an opening for a centrist third party.

Avedon Carol: E.J. Dionne has the headline I'd most like to see: "If you were to prepare a list of the top 10 stories you will never,...
Paul @PowerLine: Some revolt — E.J. Dionne writes about the "revolt of the middle."
Michael Froomkin: You Could Sell Tickets to This One — The Carpetbagger Report asks wistfully, Maybe we could temporarily suspend the...

Steve Soto: And they want to support a jurist like Janice Rogers Brown who says these poor racists and anti-Catholic American...
Hilzoy @ObsidianWings: And right on cue, Janice Rogers Brown pops up to remind us: [quote] "Just days after a bitterly divided Senate committee voted...[end quote]
Jeffrey Dubner: While the nominees range from conservative to radically conservative, they're not of the same stripe as, say, Janice...

Captain Ed: The Los Angeles Times reported yesterday on a speech given by Justice Janice Rogers Brown, a courageous speech given her...
Hugh Hewitt: The Los Angeles Times tries to open another assault on California Supreme Court Justice Janice Rogers Brown for her...
Norbizness: I can't understand why Senate Democrats are marginalizing as extremists judicial nominees like this

Bush Adds DeLay to Social Security Tour
By Jennifer Loven / AP
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CRAWFORD, Texas - President Bush is adding a helper to his Social Security road tour: House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who is facing allegations of ethical improprieties but is seen by the White House as crucial to pushing Bush's plans through Congress.

Zoe Kentucky: Jumping the Shark? This is so very Onion-worthy, only it's real.
Jim Dallas: The Bush-DeLay Social Security Destruction Plan — Coming to a town near you. Two thumbs down - Charles Grassley, Republican Senator from Iowa.
Josh Marshall: Bush enlists — DeLay in final days of Bamboozlepalooza Tour. Is it double-or-nothing on phase-out?

Matt Welch: Besides making sure that all the Kingdom's 26 million oppressed subjects saw multiple images of their unelected theocrat...

Nico @ThinkProgress: Called for democratic reform in countries that aren't Saudi Arabia The joint statement by President Bush and Prince...

FOX LEGAL THREAT OVER ABCNEWS 'AMERICAN IDOL' EXPOSÉ
Drudge Report
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ABC has been warned in writing it could face legal fallout for airing its scathing behind-the-scenes look at FOX's AMERICAN IDOL, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned. FOX owner Rupert Murdoch has informed executives that it appears ABC is attempting to maliciously "destroy" the nation's most-watched series as it heads into the final weeks.

Damian Penny: Yes, I'm going to watch ABC's shocking!!! "expose" of American Idol, and I bet you will, too.
James Joyner: 'ABC can not beat us with programming, so they are attempting to bring us down with lies and false charges.'...

Ann Althouse: Drudge is reporting that ABC is going to run an expos revealing how Paula Abdul is somehow "cheating" on "American Idol" by picking favorites and "nurturing" them.
Smash: Network Wars — MATT DRUDGE reports that FOX is threatening to sue ABC over a planned expos on American Idol.

Juan Cole: "Bush is a Liar": 50% of Americans — Gallup has found that half of Americans believe that President George W. Bush...
Atrios: Liars — This is quite fascinating. I don't find the actual result surprising, but I think it's yet another indictment of our media.

Laura Rozen: But — shhhh — after the Iraq WMD intel fiasco, the Bush line is, that such hype was (c'mon, you know the chorus) all the US intelligence community's fault.
The Poorman: Half of Americans are obsessed by irrational Bush-hatred!

Nuke the Filibuster
LAT
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These are confusing days in Washington. Born-again conservative Christians who strongly want to see President Bush's judicial nominees voted on are leading the charge against the Senate filibuster, and liberal Democrats are born-again believers in that reactionary, obstructionist legislative tactic.

McQ: Even the LA Times is tired of the obstructionism the Dems are playing in terms of judicial nominees.
Chris Bowers: Liberals Against the Filibuster — Matthew Yglesias dissents from the current Democratic position on the filibuster: ...

N. Korea, 6, and Bush, 0
By Nicholas D. Kristof / NYT
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Here's a foreign affairs quiz: (1) How many nuclear weapons did North Korea produce in Bill Clinton's eight years of office? (2) How many nuclear weapons has it produced so far in President Bush's four years in office?

Matthew Yglesias: If you're looking for reasons to believe that the Bush political machine is losing its deft touch then look no further...
Josh Marshall: White House exteeeeeeeends Bamboozlepalooza Tour past 60 day deadline! Because two months of humiliating failure just isn't enough ...

Zoe Kentucky: So the more Bush talks about GOP-sponsored Social Security reform, the less popular it becomes— so...

Mystery of German exploding toads
BBC
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Toads in an area of northern Germany are being killed off by a mysterious disease - they are exploding. Thousands of the amphibians have died in recent days in a pond in Hamburg's Altona district, with their bodies swelling to bursting point.

Charles Johnson: The Case of the Exploding German Toads — Science is baffled. Mystery of the German exploding toads. (Hat tip: Beagle.)

Foreign Policy Disputes Are Subtext in Battle Over Bolton
WaPo
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In public, the controversy over John R. Bolton's nomination as United Nations ambassador has focused on his handling of personnel issues and his managerial skills. But the first big battle of President Bush's second term also reflects long-standing tensions among Republicans over the thrust of U.S. foreign policy.

Laura Rozen: So I thought it was interesting that in this Post piece today, Armitage wades into the Bolton matter offering the gentlest defense of his old colleague.
TChris: According to Vreeland, if the Bush administration's policy is "not to reform the U.N but to destroy it"...

Hugh Hewitt: The Washington Post's daily dose of Bolton-bashing also reflects a loss of steam as even Richard Armitage is going on the record to defend Bolton against another silly charge.
Rich Lowry: The Washington Post has a Bolton story today headlined, "Foreign Policy Disputes Are Subtext in Battle Over Bolton."

Personal Accounts Are Not A Certainty
WaPo
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On the eve of the first congressional hearing on the restructuring of Social Security, Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee signaled that they will not insist that personal accounts be part of the legislation and that they will not seek further details from President Bush about his plans for the government-run retirement program.

Nico @ThinkProgress: REVERSAL ON PERSONAL ACCOUNTS: "On the eve of the first congressional hearing on the restructuring of Social Security,...
Pudentilla: grassley exploits wapo to float trial balloon on social security — [snipped quote] an "off the record" briefing to 60...

Brad DeLong: Dana Milbank reports: Personal Accounts Are Not A Certainty: On the eve of the first congressional hearing on the...
Kevin Drum: SOCIAL SECURITY COOTIES....Here's the latest on Social Security: [snipped quote] Am I missing something?

L.A. now in Mexico?
WorldNetDaily
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An immigration activist group is drawing attention to a photograph showing a billboard ad for a Spanish-language TV newscast in L.A. on which the "CA" abbreviation after "Los Angeles" has been crossed out and the word "Mexico" added in its place.

Plainsman @SouthernAppeal: Now that's what I'm talking about: This Wash Times article on the Minuteman Project is great, hopeful stuff: More than...

Mark Krikorian: MINUTEMEN IN D.C. Hundreds of Minutemen and other immigration-control activists are in Washington through tomorrow,...

Air America's Year of Decline
NRO
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The liberal network scores its lowest-ever ratings. The latest radio ratings are in, and they show continued bad news for Air America, the liberal talk-radio network featuring Al Franken, Randi Rhodes, Janeane Garofolo, and others.

Steve @BeggingToDiffer: The network survived, but one year after its launch, Air America still struggles for ratings.

Orrin Judd: NO WONDER THE LEFT HATES MARKETS: Air America's Year of Decline: The liberal network scores its lowest-ever ratings.

Dems still seeking DeLay challenger
By Kristen Mack / Houston Chronicle
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Sugar Land attorney Richard Morrison, the Democrat who challenged House Majority Leader Tom DeLay last year and said as recently as Friday that he would try again, said Monday that he won't make the race. Morrison sent an e-mail to supporters announcing his decision.

Charles Kuffner: The Chron picks up the story today. I have to wonder who wrote the headline, since Nick Lampson is a declared candidate, something the Chron itself reported last week.

DeLay Woes Prompt Rush to Refile Forms
By Mike Allen / WaPo
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Members of Congress are rushing to amend their travel and campaign records, fearing that the controversy over House Majority Leader Tom DeLay will trigger an ethics war that will bring greater scrutiny to their own travel and official activities.

Nico @ThinkProgress: REVERSAL ON ETHICS RULES: Congressional aides "said yesterday for the first time that they believe they will have to...
Frederick Maryland: In Tuesday's Washington Post, staff writer Mike Allen writes: "Members of Congress are rushing to amend their travel...
Susan Madrak: ETHICS ARE SO CLINTON ADMINISTRATION — As Cher would say, "If I could turn back time...": [snipped quote] I guess the...

Sam Rosenfeld: It appears that House Democrats' strategy in the fight over the ethics rules — including their prompt and unequivocal...
Betsy Newmark: Just to show what a mountain is being made out of a molehill about tom DeLay's trips that may or may not have been paid...

Concern over rise of 'happy slapping' craze
By Mark Honigsbaum / Guardian
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In one video clip, labelled Bitch Slap, a youth approaches a woman at a bus stop and punches her in the face. In another, Knockout Punch, a group of boys wearing uniforms are shown leading another boy across an unidentified school playground before flooring him with a single blow to the head.

Stefan Beck: It seems that irritating the rest of us with those polychromatic rings isn't the only nefarious use to which the oiks put their cell phones.

Clayton Cramer: How Technology Changes Social Behavior — And not always in a good way: "In one video clip, labelled Bitch Slap, a...

FDR's Card Trick
By William Voegeli / Opinion Journal
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We know at least two things about the Democratic Party. First, it is preoccupied with economic inequality. Implying that the middle class had somehow vanished, Sen. John Edwards campaigned for a year with a showcase speech about two Americas, "one for people...

Scott @PowerLine: The essay by Claremont Institute Research Fellow William Voegeli is one of the issue's highlights: "FDR's card trick."

St. John's blockaded for second day
Globe and Mail
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St. John's — One ship was waiting outside St. John's harbour Tuesday and another was waiting to leave as crab fishermen blocked the port's entry for a second day. There were unconfirmed reports that a second, smaller group of fishing vessels blocked entry to Bay Bulls harbour, south of St. John's, early Tuesday.

Damian Penny: CP reports that a Canadian Navy destroyer was unable to dock in St. John's, and that the blockade has spread to Bay Bulls, about 20 minutes outside of town.

Kate @OTB: Newfoundland Crab Boats Force Canadian Navy Destroyer Back Out To Sea… Globe and Mail: [snipped quote] A question of superior firepower, no doubt.